2017 Harvest

Monday, January 17, 2011

Last August, I wrote about a Drainage Act decision of the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Tribunal in which a landowner was hit with a $10,000 cost order after failing to show up for the hearing (landowner boycotts drainage hearing). The landowner, Richard Gosselin, applied for a review of the Tribunal's decision (by the Tribunal itself). All aspects of the landowner's review application were dismissed. With respect to the $10,000 costs award in favour of the municipality, the Tribunal wrote the following:

The Tribunal appropriately considered all of the circumstances prior to making its award of costs against the Appellant. If the Appellant had attended the hearing, he could have spoken to the issues of cost and provided testimony in response to the Township's submissions on costs. Further, the Rules clearly state that failing to attend a hearing constitute circumstances amounting to bad conduct. The Appellant, prior to refusing to attend the hearing, ought, or should have known that the failure to attend may result in an adverse cost award pursuant to Rule 28.04. Further, on June 10, 2010 the Appellant attempted to circumvent the Tribunal's processes and procedures by: writing panel members directly; failing to comply with the Tribunal's interim Order of May 28, 2010; and requesting numerous adjournments absent providing any evidence in support of the request.

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John D. Goudy, Lawyer

John is a litigator whose practice is focused in the areas of commercial and environmental litigation, expropriation law, energy regulation, and regulatory offences. He is particularly interested in agricultural issues and the regulation of agricultural land use, and lives and works on his family’s cash crop farm north of London, Ontario with his wife and three kids.

ACI Published Author

Law of the Lands provides legal information of interest to landowners. If you require legal advice about your particular situation, please click on John's profile for contact information or visit scottpetrie.com.